UPDATE 11/20/2014
Ok I've owned the XB-310Li for 5 years or something so let me give the realistic picture... its is a nice bike for getting from point a to b cheaply, but it will need to be treated nice and you must be into tinkering and being an ebike mechanic to keep it running.
Disadvantages:
- low quality components all around(means there WILL be a lot of tinkering throught the life of the bike to keep it running),
- low quality frame(I saw a defective xb310li frame that broke, its not really worth upgrading components except for brakes maybe),
- to get high speed/power all electrical components need replacing (battery, controller and motor),
- without modification or adjustment of battery mount, its only good for tall riders, even some 5' 8" riders find it uncomfortable
Advantages:
- Heavy duty frame with 350lbs capacity so assuming its not a defective one it will take anything you throw at it,
- the bike is well equipped,
- cheap,
- will do many miles if maintenance is kept up,
- its folding so its versatile which is handy in case of bad weather or break downs. The folding is actually one of my favorite features because I can use it for cross-city trips(subway) or intercity trips (bus or amtrak) so in that sense it is worth doing a small upgrade detailed 2 paragraphs down from here.
If your looking for something to modify and turn into a machine with a lot of power buy a used downhill-bike from craigslist and convert it to electric. Or at least something with a decent quality frame to make worth putting decent breaks and suspension components.
(4/2014 If you want to modify the XB-310li, and If you have a new purpose or home for the 24v little frog battery that came with the bike, you could swap the 24v battery for a 36v battery, put a tiny bit of solder on the shunt in the controller and be good to go. Otherwise if you don't have anything to do with the 24v battery that comes with the bike I would say get another 24v battery, wire them in parallel and upgrade to a lyen controller including the usb programming adapter so you can set it up right. Still you won't be able to go up any steep inclines for tooo long cos the motor might overheat.
UPDATE 06/01/2015
According to a seller, farbike.com:
It's had "many of the slight fit and finish issues fixed such as those with the hinge. X-treme has been making this bike bettter and better each year, and although still an entry level electric bike this one willl last a long time."
Makes sense that the manufacturer would update the bike, considering I bought mine and started this thread in 2009.
ORIGINAL POST
Hi sphere members,
I went ahead and bought the XB-310Li. It seems to be as described and is working fine so far, Works the way its supposed to. Chinese build quility but not bad. Haven't done any range or speed tests yet although I should.
I took apart the plastic part on the back that houses the controller because I'm thinking of doing some sort of shunt modification for a little more current. I was hoping to get some advice about that here. The controller board wouldn't budge easily from inside the aluminum casing so there are no pics of the whole board. I'm also thinking about 36V. Maybe someday I'll replace the cells in the battery pack and rearrange for more voltage. Also could someone identify that hubmotor?
I took lots of pics of the important parts you don't see on any of their websites:
I would appreciate your impressions and feedback/opinions/whatever.
"Not brushes..." haha chinese labelling...
LATEST UPDATE: Folding hinge gasket modification http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13910&p=551869#p551869
Ok I've owned the XB-310Li for 5 years or something so let me give the realistic picture... its is a nice bike for getting from point a to b cheaply, but it will need to be treated nice and you must be into tinkering and being an ebike mechanic to keep it running.
Disadvantages:
- low quality components all around(means there WILL be a lot of tinkering throught the life of the bike to keep it running),
- low quality frame(I saw a defective xb310li frame that broke, its not really worth upgrading components except for brakes maybe),
- to get high speed/power all electrical components need replacing (battery, controller and motor),
- without modification or adjustment of battery mount, its only good for tall riders, even some 5' 8" riders find it uncomfortable
Advantages:
- Heavy duty frame with 350lbs capacity so assuming its not a defective one it will take anything you throw at it,
- the bike is well equipped,
- cheap,
- will do many miles if maintenance is kept up,
- its folding so its versatile which is handy in case of bad weather or break downs. The folding is actually one of my favorite features because I can use it for cross-city trips(subway) or intercity trips (bus or amtrak) so in that sense it is worth doing a small upgrade detailed 2 paragraphs down from here.
If your looking for something to modify and turn into a machine with a lot of power buy a used downhill-bike from craigslist and convert it to electric. Or at least something with a decent quality frame to make worth putting decent breaks and suspension components.
(4/2014 If you want to modify the XB-310li, and If you have a new purpose or home for the 24v little frog battery that came with the bike, you could swap the 24v battery for a 36v battery, put a tiny bit of solder on the shunt in the controller and be good to go. Otherwise if you don't have anything to do with the 24v battery that comes with the bike I would say get another 24v battery, wire them in parallel and upgrade to a lyen controller including the usb programming adapter so you can set it up right. Still you won't be able to go up any steep inclines for tooo long cos the motor might overheat.
UPDATE 06/01/2015
According to a seller, farbike.com:
It's had "many of the slight fit and finish issues fixed such as those with the hinge. X-treme has been making this bike bettter and better each year, and although still an entry level electric bike this one willl last a long time."
Makes sense that the manufacturer would update the bike, considering I bought mine and started this thread in 2009.
ORIGINAL POST
Hi sphere members,
I went ahead and bought the XB-310Li. It seems to be as described and is working fine so far, Works the way its supposed to. Chinese build quility but not bad. Haven't done any range or speed tests yet although I should.
I took apart the plastic part on the back that houses the controller because I'm thinking of doing some sort of shunt modification for a little more current. I was hoping to get some advice about that here. The controller board wouldn't budge easily from inside the aluminum casing so there are no pics of the whole board. I'm also thinking about 36V. Maybe someday I'll replace the cells in the battery pack and rearrange for more voltage. Also could someone identify that hubmotor?
I took lots of pics of the important parts you don't see on any of their websites:
I would appreciate your impressions and feedback/opinions/whatever.
"Not brushes..." haha chinese labelling...
LATEST UPDATE: Folding hinge gasket modification http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13910&p=551869#p551869